Crossing the Road, Not the Finish Line

There’s a road in southwest Virginia where the Appalachian Trail just... stops. Not for good, but for a few minutes. You come out of the woods, boots caked in mud, and there’s this strip of asphalt humming with cars that don’t care you’ve walked 500 miles. I stood there, waiting for a break in traffic, and felt invisible. Not in a sad way—just small. Like the world kept spinning, and my big adventure was just a blip. I thought hiking would make me feel epic. Turns out, sometimes it just makes you realize how much of life is happening without you. I crossed, and the trail swallowed me again. The road didn’t even notice. #Travel #TrailTruths #InvisibleJourneys